Jump to content

New semi-hollow electric project.


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 115
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

It has been a while since my last post on this project. There has been some good progress on it. I contoured the body and shaped the neck. I basically use a rasp and files. Not too much to detail there. The taipliece is complete. I decided to use a metal hinge (because I had some brass). I turned out pretty cool. Here is the taipliece with a slot cut for the hinge:

72.jpg

Here is the hinge piece:

73.jpg

The completed taipliece:

74.jpg

The pin used to make the hinge is a piece of steel from a finishing nail. Use a long one so you can trim the ends off and still have the length. The hole is drillled from one side of the tailpiece and filled in after the steel rod is in place. The hinge is pretty straight forward. I used a piece 5/8" wide X 3/16" thick. There are two screws holding it on. I used long neck attachment screws. The third hole is for the strap button.

I have made some progress witht he finish as well. There are 3 thin coats of amber shallac to give it some color. I also set up my HVLP sprayer and shot 5 coats of lacquer. You can't beat a spray system for ease and efficiency. Here is a shot with the shellac:

75.jpg

I will be soldering the wiring harness, finishing the bridge, and doing a general setup before final buffing and completion. More pics by this weekend.

Enjoy~

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dude.... you make me cry :D You make it look easier than if you were doing it on a CNC machine. I love all your jigs and your duplicator. I've been wanting to build one of those for awhile, but I can't seem to find the time in between building furniture and guitars and drums and stuff. One of these days...

I love that thick Spruce top. Only complaint I have is.... YOU"RE MAKING THE REST OF US LOOK BAD!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The finish is done and it turned out sweet. I decided to put a little effort into cleaning up the shop and setting up my HVLP spray system. The results are pretty nice. While the lacquer was curing I assembled the wiring harness.

84.jpg

It went together pretty well. Those guys at StartsPickups sent along a very detiled schematic with the pickups. By the way these Bartolini ZBS humbuckers are the best high fidelity pickups I have ever used. They accurately reproduce the sund of this guitar with harmonic overtones to spare. And they rcok when used with an overdrive unit. You wouldn't beleive the all out shred tone of this guitar by looking at it. It is a heavy fusion machine all the way. It goes from a clean angelic chime to a nasty demonic shreik. I love these pickups.

I decided to make some ebony pickup covers for this one. I just couldn't bring myself to put plastic on this guitar. I started by making 1/8" thick strips for the edges of the rings. Then I glued a piece over the top to make a little box. This arrangement makes a very strong little box. Here is a pic:

85.jpg

Then I sanded the base to fit using the same trick I used to fit the bridge:

86.jpg

87.jpg

I don't have pictures of the jig I used to route the opening. I used some plywood and made a template from it. I then double stick taped it to the rings and routed it with a bearing bit on my router table. It was a little sketchy but I will make a better jig for the next ones I make and then I'll post pictures of that.

The result is awesome:

83.jpg

After these were done I buffed out the finish and assembled the guitar:

76.jpg

77.jpg

78.jpg

79.jpg

This guitar has some great tone. The sitka spruce is simply a gorgeous material for anything stringed and this is no exception. I used Thomastik-Infeld flatwound jazz strings. These are awesome strings. Clear and bright with the focused bass that makes for a great jazzer indeed. The acoustic tone is really nice and plugged in it is as responsive and punchy. The bass response is very tight and the highs just chime while the mids fill it out with a punch. So far I love this guitar. It is a very successful prototype. I plan to start another one with some refinements by the end of June. This one will be flamed maple with an Engelmann srpuce top (I think).

I hope you all enjoyed this process as much as I did. Thanks for all the great replies and ideas. Please critique this for me and let me know what might be improved in the next revision. Thanks!

~David

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For the next time I'd be tempted to get closer to 'regular' archtop dimensions. I find the body looks too small, which I think is purely because you use the visual language of archtop guitars, but with a LP set of proportions. Throughout the process I've been itching to see the final result, and I'm sorry to say I was underwhelmed. Every step made my eyes bug out, but the finished product seems to be less than the sum of it's parts(though only very slightly).

Viewed individually every aspect looks fantastic, (beautiful carve, magnificently figured koa head veneer, elegant tailpiece etc) but I just don't find my self looking at the whole, and thinking "wow".

BTW, I should specify (after all the negativity) that I only feel this way because of the sheer *wow* factor of your previous efforts, and the only shot that gives me this impression is the full length shot. The body shot looks every bit how I imagined (as in jaw droppingly perfect - nice silk!!), but when you see the whole package it just looks a little, small, and as a result, slightly cluttered, as a result of archtop hardware shoehorned onto a reguar electric size body.

Finally, I reserve the right to revise this post when I'm not:

a. Exhausted after a long day at work.

b. Under the influence of 2 bottle of nice Aussie Shiraz.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree about the appearance of the pickups, with the big "Bartolini" across them; however, if they give you the sound fidelity you were after, then it's more than a justifieable trade-off.

Thanks for the bit on making your ebony pickup mounting rings (I believe you called them covers, which confused me for a second, though it could have looked interesting!). I was planning on making some of my own, and it hadn't occurred to me to do it as a walled 'box'-- I just have a semi-thick hunk of ebony I was going to shape.

As for the rest-- there are 2 other things that I didn't absolutely love--

First, the elongated headstock. It suits the guitar better than a 'Gibson'-style one would have; however, I still see it as being a bit long. What I DO like, though, is that it has its own look, which is more than I can say for my own or many others around!

Second, the flamed headstock veneer and tailpiece. I like how solid black draws attention to the subtle beauty of spruce. I found the flamed wood looked a bit 'much', and didn't marry the spruce as well as something understated might have.

For proportion, other than the headstock, I like it. I think you've created something unique, and something that's balanced, to boot. Sure, it's smaller than standard archtop design, but it was never meant to be a traditional archtop replacement, and I think its own aesthetic and your vision are successful. Despite my criticisms, I would cheerfully brag about this guitar to anybody who I happened to bump into... at a gig... at a music festival... at my local grocery store... ! :D

Greg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool, this is exactly the type of criticism I was looking for.

While I wasn't thinking of this as a small bodied archtop I could see how a slightly larger body would look nice. I was thinking more electric than acoustic while deisigning this guitar. The lower bout is 13-5/8", slightly larger than an LP. I could see going 14-1/2" or even 15". I do like the way this guitar feels though. It is so easy to wrap around it and really dig into it. If I made a carved top and back plate then it would seem to make more sense to have a larger body. The acoustics might benefit from the larger air space. Another thing that is different than the image of an archtop is the lack of binding.

I went back and forth about the koa. My second choice was straight grained rosewood. It would have looked nice too and a little more in line with the spruce grain. Since this guitar is sort of a new idea (for me at least) I decided to go with a radically figured piece of wood. It sort of symbolizes the departure from tradition.

It seems that pickup manufacturers always want to put their name on their products. If I was more brave I would have sanded them down and glued a thin veneer over the top. I didn't want to risk altering the tone before I really tested them out thoroughly. It doesn't bother me that much and at least they are black. I wanted to go with metal covers but they do not offer them with this pickup series and I had to try them. The tone is perfect so I am glad I went with them.

I will play this guitar for a while, gather feedback from people and then start designing the next revision in a few weeks. Keep the ideas coming, I really appreciate the feedback.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know...

It's only been a fraction of a day since I posted my criticisms... and the guitar's already growing on me more.

Straight-grained rosewood would have looked excellent for the headstock and tailpiece; however, give me a few days and I may come around to the koa.

Even the elongated headstock is starting to have its charm...

I'll comment again after living with it for a day. <laff>

A new one, though-- are there any knobs with a lower profile that would still look appropriate to the guitar? Bell or tophat style, maybe?

Greg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Scott, this guitar will be with me at the show. It would be great if you could play it and give me some feedback when we hook up in Towson.

Greg, I didn't think of lower knobs but you are right. They would look much better now that you mention it. I would want to make them out of ebony. Looks like I will have to learn to use a lathe. I share shop space with a furniture builder who has a nice old lathe just waiting to turn out some knobs. Great idea, thanks!

The longer headstock came about by taking my wider headstock and narrowing it so the tuners would line up with the strings and pull straight instead of at an angle. I started using it for that reason and it took a while for me to really like it. Now I really like it a lot and use it on my full size acoustics as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First, I'd like to say that I really like guitar. The body shape looks great to my eyes. I also like the unbound body. Simpler = more elegant (in many cases). The only major part of the guitar that I would change would be the bridge, and hence fingerboard heights above the body. I realize that the style of bridge used requires this, but I personally would prefer a lower profile with the strings closer to the body. Overall though, the axe is amazing and inspiring!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks. I don't have time to answer questions as I am getting ready for a roadtrip to Baltimore for me next show. Pretty exciting!

The spruce is very easy to carve but does like to dent a little easier than most woods. The tone, of course, makes it worth the extra trouble.

Lowering the strings closer to the body would be a good idea. I have started already to think of what I could do to the bridge. If there were a block under the bridge I could use inserts and just mount the thumbscrews directly into the wood. That would lower it by about 1/2". That would do the trick. There may other ways of doing the same thing here too. I'll place that idea in the back of my mind...

Rounding the rings and flattening the knobs... I like both ideas. Perhaps when I gbet back into the shop I will do that.

Thanks again for all the replies, critique, and support. I'll be back online in a week or so.

~David

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wonderfull job Myka! I love the fact that you are not afraid to be creative and come up with something unique and new. Your professionalism shows through in both your work and your attitude towards critisism. I cant wait to see what you do next. Thanks for all the valuable info as well!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thank to myka..

when i watch your pic .. and study..

it is not easy, show your woking and your know how ? T_T

i'm hungry your pic..

i think your will really good man..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

myka good job old boy, but i have a question; i am starting a semi hollow project and was wondering how you got the wiring in there, did you open up the body and pop it in or did you fed it through the f-hole? please enlighten me, oh and what kinda of wood works well for a semi hollow? keep in mind im on a budget

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Hey Myka, I cant keep from looking at this thread over and over :D I was wondering if you could give me any more details on the jig you built to rout the neck pocket. I really want to build one but I wanted to see if you might have any tips to keep in mind, maybe a rough parts list. Many many thanks for all you have done thus far and for any and all info you continue to provide. Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...